Public Safety

HILLSVILLE — Times are too tough for people to give away their hard-earned dollars to con artists, but Carroll Deputy Kevin Kemp has been investigating many reports of scams in the past few months.
Calls or mail that claim that people have won prizes should be treated with skepticism, he said. That old saying, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” applies here.
Scam artists use every piece of technology available to trick people out of their money or steal their identity, Kemp said.

INDEPENDENCE — A drivers’ license check point on March 3 led to the capture of man who had already been deported, Virginia State Police say.
The man was found with concealed weapons and drugs.
Police have issued multiple charges against Marco Antonio Lopez-Martinez, 26, who had an Independence address, said Trooper Jessie Tilson. “He’s been deported once and made his way back” into the U.S.

HILLSVILLE — A tree fell onto a vehicle Monday near the intersection of Virginia 100 and Beaver Dam Road, killing the driver of the vehicle.
Hillsville Police Department investigated the incident that resulted in the death of Adam Lee Ashton, 34, of Hillsville.
At roughly 4 p.m., Ashton was driving a 1999 Ford Escort south bound on Virginia 100, when a large white pine broke off in the wind and fell into the road, according to Police Chief Steve Williams.
Ashton and another vehicle following his saw the tree falling and tried to stop, but the Escort slid 75 to 100 feet.

After further investigation of a fire that damaged a house on Haystack Road in the Baywood community, a 15-year-old juvenile has been charged with arson.
Police said Jacob Smith, 15, was held as a “person of interest” after the Feb. 16 fire at the home where he lived with his parents, Ben and Marissa Smith.
Grayson County Sheriff Richard Vaughan did not release the name of the juvenile, or indicate if Smith is the 15-year-old charged.